Biggest moments from Netflix’s ‘Love is Blind’ premiere filmed in Charlotte
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In Charlotte, ‘Love is Blind’
The newest season of “Love is Blind” set in Charlotte has been released. Here’s everything you need to know about the hometown singles.
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Love is in the air — and in the infamous pods for several Charlotte singles on Netflix’s new season of “Love is Blind.”
Just in time for Valentine’s Day, the first half of the Charlotte season of the hit reality dating show has been released, with 30 men and women from the area looking to get engaged before meeting in person.
I’m a sucker for a good reality dating show, and this season — filled with swoon-worthy romances, jaw-dropping drama and gut-wrenching breakups — does not disappoint.
So how did it go for the dozens of local singles looking for love while dating behind closed doors? Here are some of the biggest moments from the start of their four-week journey to test whether or not love really is blind:
(If you haven’t watched yet, we want to warn you: There are spoilers ahead!)
Contestant confessions
From day one, many of the contestants really hit it off during the speed-dating style experiment — some with more than one person.
After (blindly) meeting the other local singles, it didn’t take long before some had narrowed down their biggest pod crushes and began having deeper conversations, including Jimmy and two of his love interests.
The 28-year-old software salesman quickly clicked with Jessica and Chelsea, who both happened to reveal big parts of their pasts with him on the same day.
Though Jessica had been open about it behind the scenes and with the other women on the show, she built up the courage to tell him that she has a 10-year-old daughter with her ex-boyfriend, whom she’d grown up with.
“I’m not just gonna coast over that like I’m delivering that like it’s not a big thing. Me addressing that with you and telling you, like, that’s the most important part of my life. You know, there’s certain conversations we can’t have without you knowing that first,” she confessed.
“It’s not something I want to lead with because I want people to, like, get to know me as an individual first and, like, establish a relationship with me.”
In the end, Jimmy said he appreciated her opening up and that the mother-daughter “package deal” would not be a deal breaker.
“Finding out that Jess has a daughter at home, it’s a lot to take in. So I’ve gotta really think things through and figure out what I want. But what I do know is that we definitely have a connection,” he said privately.
“At the same time, I also, like, have a really good connection with Chelsea, and I wanna continue to get to know her and talk to her. The fact that I can see myself proposing to somebody here … it’s crazy to think about it.”
After hearing the news of Jessica’s daughter, he was taken aback — again — by another confession, this one from Chelsea.
“I do have something to just kind of lay out there. It’s pretty important, and it could be a red flag, but it’s part of my journey of my life … I got married,” she told him. “I was 18. He was my high school sweetheart. We were married for almost five years, but it was just not my person.”
Though she was pretty upfront about the previous relationship, it was a lot for Jimmy to process.
“It doesn’t scare me. I heard bigger news today that scared me a little bit more … I just have had a lot dumped on me today,” he said. “I’m good. It’s a good thing that you told me, and I’m not judging you for that. And I’m just trying to figure out how to change the subject ’cause I don’t wanna lead you in the wrong direction if I wanna collect my thoughts.”
In the end, Chelsea was left in tears, because she had been nervous to tell him and didn’t quite understand his reaction, even though he had tried to reassure her that he didn’t want to think anything negative of it.
‘I just have to be attracted to you’
While love quickly blossomed in the pods, unfortunately, so did some drama.
Despite getting closer with each date, there was one conversation that shook things up for another couple on the show: AD and Clay, who tried to push her to share what she looked like.
“Like, love is blind. Like, I get it … I just wanna have that reveal door and like, you know, be super turned on by my wife,” Clay told AD.
If the show title doesn’t make it clear enough, the experiment is specifically designed to not talk about appearance, so of course AD was shocked to hear how big of a role looks would play in the outcome of their relationship.
When asked if there were specific traits he was hoping for, Clay did not even hesitate to describe his ideal type.
“Naturally, I would say, I’ve kind of leaned towards more, like, petite. My favorite attribute is, like, lips, butt and all that stuff,” he told her. “That sounds, like, so shallow and all that but, like, hearing what your best attributes are, if I’mma propose, that’s something I need to know … regardless of the emotional connection, you know.”
AD said she was turned off that Clay was trying to guess what she looked like and didn’t give in.
“I personally don’t want to sell myself based off, like, my physical attributes,” she told him. “That, to me, defeats the purpose, and I understand if that’s not going to work for you.”
Though she didn’t agree, she did say she wasn’t mad at him.
“Clay is extremely hung up on appearance, and it does bother me because I have so much more to offer.”
That conversation wasn’t the only bombshell that hit AD in the first episode.
Dishing out the same pick-up lines in the pods?
Aside from Clay, AD had also developed feelings for Matthew. He revealed that he felt a deep connection with her, that she was the only reason he was there and even asked about her dad’s thoughts on a potential proposal.
“You’re funny. You’re quick-witted. I just sense you’re incredibly caring. I could just feel you being protective of me and over the course of time, I’m just becoming very protective of you,” he told her. “There’s a large part of me that thinks that there’s really only two outcomes from this … that’s either with you or not.”
Matthew even went on to say that his greatest accomplishment was finding AD and that if she wanted to leave early, he’d leave with her … but he apparently also said the same thing to Amber, which AD found out at the end of the episode.
“He talked about, like asking my dad and if he can’t do that, he can leave. I was like, ‘I’m fine with that, I’ll leave, too,’” Amber told AD. “And I just thought it was like crazy, which is good … I mean, it was a great date.”
More big moments to watch out for
There are many other big moments in the “Love is Blind” premiere and much more in store in the rest of the season, including:
Shocking self-eliminations after love triangle drama
Blindsiding breakups after giving a “letter to a future husband”
Drama in the Dominican Republic over “jokes” and jealousy once the newly engaged couples were all together in person
How to watch ‘Love is Blind’
You can catch the first six episodes of “Love is Blind” on Netflix, and look out for new episodes released each Wednesday.
What do you think of the new Charlotte season of “Love is Blind” so far? Let me know your thoughts on how the local group of singles is navigating Netflix’s dating experiment at charlottefive@charlottefive.com.
This story was originally published February 14, 2024 at 5:00 AM with the headline "Biggest moments from Netflix’s ‘Love is Blind’ premiere filmed in Charlotte."
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